Meh mystery. I just couldn't get into the story. Didn't like Erin much, didn't like any of the other characters much either. And a little over halfway through the book I found myself not actually caring to find out who killed Sylvia.

There's a plethora of possible suspects, but none of them have a very strong motive. So Sylvia wasn't well liked. If we all killed one person we did not like, there would be no people left on Earth.

For me, the story lacked urgency. Erin investigates because her friend Farnsworth thinks she's a major suspect because she served Sylvia her tea. But apart from the question of how could Farnsworth be sure she served Sylvia, it was very busy and crowded at the tea buffet, there is the question of how she was able to mix the poison in the tea unnoticed as it was very busy and crowded at the tea buffet. I missed these sort of deductions in the story: who had means, motive and opportunity?

Instead we get Erin having (lucky) run-ins with people that result in overhearing things that might be clues and her closing up her shop during her regular opening hours to play the piano or do some sleuthing. Just as well it is mentioned that she makes most of her sales over the internet, but never once did she go to the post-office to drop off a lot of parcels for delivery.

In the end, I liked the cover of the book more than the actual story.

As a side note, the sentences in German should be proof-read by someone with better knowledge of German than the author. (I found a biography that says she has a second major in German, but Schuld is a female word (not male), du and dir are not capitalized, and if Kurt's argument on the phone was with the same person as in the end of the story, why does he use formal you (Sie) on the phone and familiar you (du) later on?)

I read an ARC through Netgalley.